Please note: This is an anonymous response to an online survey; I do not have any way of contacting the respondent or verifying responses. Their answers may reflect good, bad, or middling hiring practices. I invite you to take what’s useful and leave the rest. If you are someone who hires Library, Archives or other LIS workers, please consider giving your own opinion by filling out the survey here.
Current Hiring Practices and Organizational Needs
These questions are about your current hiring practices in general – the way things have been run the last year or two (or three).
Where do you advertise your job listings?
On our district website and our region service center
Do you notice a difference in application quality based on where the applicant saw the job ad?
no
Do you include salary in the job ad?
√ No
Do you use keyword matching or any automation tools to reduce the number of applications a human reads while considering candidates?
√ Other: not on our website, but the service center allows you to narrow the search
Do you consider candidates who don’t meet all the requirements listed in the job ad?
√ Other: normally no, but yes if we are desperate
Does your workplace require experience for entry-level librarian positions? (Officially or unofficially…)
√ Other: A librarian hasn’t been hired in 20+ years. (I’m the only one.)
What is the current most common reason for disqualifying an applicant without an interview?
Known issues within our community
Does your organization use one-way interviews? (Sometimes also called asynchronous or recorded interviews)
√ No :
Do you provide interview questions before the interview?
√ No
Does your interview process include taking the candidate out for a meal?
√ No, and I don’t think we ever have
How much of your interview process is virtual?
√ None
Do you (or does your organization) give candidates feedback about applications or interview performance?
√ No
What is the most important thing for a job hunter to do in order to improve their hirability?
Consistent work history comes to mind
I want to hire someone who is:
reliable
Is there anything else you’d like to say about hiring practices at your organization or in current trends?
We have found it difficult to find people who want to work and who are reliable and without ulterior motives for working in the school.
Your Last Recruitment
These are questions about the last person you hired (or the last position you attempted to fill). This person may not have been a librarian, and that’s ok.
Think about the most recent time you participated in hiring someone (or an attempt to hire someone) at your organization. What was the title of the position you were trying to fill?
Library aide (all of my answers on this survey are about hiring an aide, not librarian.
When was this position hired?
√ More than a year ago, but less than two years ago
Approximately how many people applied for this position?
√ 25 or fewer
Approximately what percentage of those would you say were hirable?
√ 25% or less
And how would you define “hirable”?
Someone who meets the minimal requirements for the job
How did the recruitment for this position compare with recruitments in previous years?
About the same number of applicants, but it’s getting harder to find people who want to work for the right reasons.
Your Workplace
This section asks for information about your workplace, including if you have lost positions in the last decade.
How many staff members are at your library/organization?
√ 0-10
Are you unionized?
√ No
How many permanent, full time job openings has your workplace posted in the last year?
√ None!
How many permanent, full time librarian (or other “professional” level) jobs has your workplace posted in the last year?
√ None!
Can you tell us how the number of permanent, full-time positions at your workplace has changed over the past decade?
√ There are fewer positions
Have any full-time librarian positions been replaced with part-time or hourly workers over the past decade?
√ No
Have any full-time librarian positions been replaced with non-librarian, lower paid staff positions over the past decade?
√ No
Is librarianship a dying profession?
√ I don’t know
Why or why not?
Conservative politics have hurt librarianship, in my opinion, but it is definitely alive and well in elementary and middle schools. High school’s are struggling with the move to online research.
Demographics
This section asks for information about you specifically.
What part of the world are you in?
√ Southeastern US
What’s your region like?
√ Rural
What type of institution do you hire for (check all that apply):
√ School Library
What type(s) of LIS professionals do you hire?
just aides (I hope that doesn’t mean my answers are irrelevant!) [Emily’s note: I find these answers relevant!]
Are you a librarian?
√ Yes
Are you now or have you ever been:
√ A hiring manager (you are hiring people that you will directly or indirectly supervise)
√ A member of a hiring or search committee
Do you have any other comments, for job hunters, other people who hire, about the survey, or for Emily (the survey author)?
I want people who WANT to work in the library, who are professional, punctual, and don’t miss much work. A good attitude is imperative.
Hiring Librarians 